diff --git a/src/calibre/gui2/dialogs/metadata_bulk.py b/src/calibre/gui2/dialogs/metadata_bulk.py
index 9b8810b3a4..5b3b7fa3d4 100644
--- a/src/calibre/gui2/dialogs/metadata_bulk.py
+++ b/src/calibre/gui2/dialogs/metadata_bulk.py
@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@ from PyQt4.QtGui import QDialog
 from calibre.gui2 import qstring_to_unicode
 from calibre.gui2.dialogs.metadata_bulk_ui import Ui_MetadataBulkDialog
 from calibre.gui2.dialogs.tag_editor import TagEditor
-from calibre.ebooks.metadata import string_to_authors, authors_to_sort_string
+from calibre.ebooks.metadata import string_to_authors, authors_to_sort_string, \
+    authors_to_string
 
 class MetadataBulkDialog(QDialog, Ui_MetadataBulkDialog):
 
@@ -25,29 +26,64 @@ class MetadataBulkDialog(QDialog, Ui_MetadataBulkDialog):
         QObject.connect(self.button_box, SIGNAL("accepted()"), self.sync)
         QObject.connect(self.rating, SIGNAL('valueChanged(int)'), self.rating_changed)
 
-        all_series = self.db.all_series()
+        self.tags.update_tags_cache(self.db.all_tags())
+        self.remove_tags.update_tags_cache(self.db.all_tags())
 
-        for i in all_series:
-            id, name = i
-            self.series.addItem(name)
+        self.initialize_combos()
 
         for f in self.db.all_formats():
             self.remove_format.addItem(f)
 
         self.remove_format.setCurrentIndex(-1)
 
-        self.series.lineEdit().setText('')
         QObject.connect(self.series, SIGNAL('currentIndexChanged(int)'), self.series_changed)
         QObject.connect(self.series, SIGNAL('editTextChanged(QString)'), self.series_changed)
         QObject.connect(self.tag_editor_button, SIGNAL('clicked()'), self.tag_editor)
+
         self.exec_()
 
+
+    def initialize_combos(self):
+        self.initalize_authors()
+        self.initialize_series()
+        self.initialize_publisher()
+
+    def initalize_authors(self):
+        all_authors = self.db.all_authors()
+        all_authors.sort(cmp=lambda x, y : cmp(x[1], y[1]))
+
+        for i in all_authors:
+            id, name = i
+            name = authors_to_string([name.strip().replace('|', ',') for n in name.split(',')])
+            self.authors.addItem(name)
+        self.authors.setEditText('')
+
+    def initialize_series(self):
+        all_series = self.db.all_series()
+        all_series.sort(cmp=lambda x, y : cmp(x[1], y[1]))
+
+        for i in all_series:
+            id, name = i
+            self.series.addItem(name)
+        self.series.setEditText('')
+
+    def initialize_publisher(self):
+        all_publishers = self.db.all_publishers()
+        all_publishers.sort(cmp=lambda x, y : cmp(x[1], y[1]))
+
+        for i in all_publishers:
+            id, name = i
+            self.publisher.addItem(name)
+        self.publisher.setEditText('')
+
     def tag_editor(self):
         d = TagEditor(self, self.db, None)
         d.exec_()
         if d.result() == QDialog.Accepted:
             tag_string = ', '.join(d.tags)
             self.tags.setText(tag_string)
+            self.tags.update_tags_cache(self.db.all_tags())
+            self.remove_tags.update_tags_cache(self.db.all_tags())
 
     def sync(self):
         for id in self.ids:
diff --git a/src/calibre/gui2/dialogs/metadata_bulk.ui b/src/calibre/gui2/dialogs/metadata_bulk.ui
index beea2cace3..f2bcc3cd93 100644
--- a/src/calibre/gui2/dialogs/metadata_bulk.ui
+++ b/src/calibre/gui2/dialogs/metadata_bulk.ui
@@ -45,16 +45,6 @@
             <property name="alignment">
              <set>Qt::AlignRight|Qt::AlignTrailing|Qt::AlignVCenter</set>
             </property>
-            <property name="buddy">
-             <cstring>authors</cstring>
-            </property>
-           </widget>
-          </item>
-          <item row="0" column="1" colspan="2">
-           <widget class="EnLineEdit" name="authors">
-            <property name="toolTip">
-             <string>Change the author(s) of this book. Multiple authors should be separated by an &amp;. If the author name contains an &amp;, use &amp;&amp; to represent it.</string>
-            </property>
            </widget>
           </item>
           <item row="2" column="0">
@@ -65,9 +55,6 @@
             <property name="alignment">
              <set>Qt::AlignRight|Qt::AlignTrailing|Qt::AlignVCenter</set>
             </property>
-            <property name="buddy">
-             <cstring>authors</cstring>
-            </property>
            </widget>
           </item>
           <item row="2" column="1" colspan="2">
@@ -117,16 +104,6 @@
             <property name="alignment">
              <set>Qt::AlignRight|Qt::AlignTrailing|Qt::AlignVCenter</set>
             </property>
-            <property name="buddy">
-             <cstring>publisher</cstring>
-            </property>
-           </widget>
-          </item>
-          <item row="4" column="1" colspan="2">
-           <widget class="EnLineEdit" name="publisher">
-            <property name="toolTip">
-             <string>Change the publisher of this book</string>
-            </property>
            </widget>
           </item>
           <item row="5" column="0">
@@ -143,7 +120,7 @@
            </widget>
           </item>
           <item row="5" column="1">
-           <widget class="EnLineEdit" name="tags">
+           <widget class="TagsLineEdit" name="tags">
             <property name="toolTip">
              <string>Tags categorize the book. This is particularly useful while searching. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;They can be any words or phrases, separated by commas.</string>
             </property>
@@ -174,7 +151,7 @@
            </widget>
           </item>
           <item row="6" column="1" colspan="2">
-           <widget class="EnLineEdit" name="remove_tags">
+           <widget class="TagsLineEdit" name="remove_tags">
             <property name="toolTip">
              <string>Comma separated list of tags to remove from the books. </string>
             </property>
@@ -235,6 +212,20 @@
             </property>
            </widget>
           </item>
+          <item row="0" column="1">
+           <widget class="EnComboBox" name="authors">
+            <property name="editable">
+             <bool>true</bool>
+            </property>
+           </widget>
+          </item>
+          <item row="4" column="1">
+           <widget class="EnComboBox" name="publisher">
+            <property name="editable">
+             <bool>true</bool>
+            </property>
+           </widget>
+          </item>
          </layout>
         </widget>
        </item>
@@ -265,6 +256,11 @@
    <extends>QComboBox</extends>
    <header>widgets.h</header>
   </customwidget>
+  <customwidget>
+   <class>TagsLineEdit</class>
+   <extends>QLineEdit</extends>
+   <header>widgets.h</header>
+  </customwidget>
  </customwidgets>
  <resources>
   <include location="../images.qrc"/>